Too mush cash???

[TheHaitian]

It is the new year and we were planning (or I) to take out $50/$100 week and stash it for a new car downpayment; I was supposed to do that when I got done paying the KIA but life happens and never got around to it. Guess 1.5 years later is better than never

My wife liked that idea and said we should do the same for our vacation fund... Oh well!

Anyway I am just thinking: how do you think a car dealership will react if 3-4-5 years down the road I walk in with 15-30k of cold hard cash to buy a car? You think someone will call the IRS on my ass lol!

Or savings account is a better alternative vs CASH CASH? I was also worried about the house getting robbed (we do have an alarm system) or burning down with all the cash inside.

Anyway getting ahead of myself since today is the first time I will be withdrawing $50...

[Deleted]

I'd just move it to savings. I don't like cash. 

A bank would have to report a 10k+ deposit. I'm not sure retailers have any such requirement.

[ArchietheDragon]

Dec 31, 2014 12:20:26 GMT -5 TheHaitian said:

Anyway I am just thinking: how do you think a car dealership will react if 3-4-5 years down the road I walk in with 15-30k of cold hard cash to buy a car? You think someone will call the IRS on my ass lol!

They will say, are you sure you don't want to save that money and finance your car?  we have great rates. 

[gooddecisions]

Huh? I saved up for a new car thinking my 17 year old car would be done by now. The money isn't sitting at home. It's in the bank.

[TheHaitian]

Dec 31, 2014 12:23:14 GMT -5 ArchietheDragon said:

Dec 31, 2014 12:20:26 GMT -5 TheHaitian said:

Anyway I am just thinking: how do you think a car dealership will react if 3-4-5 years down the road I walk in with 15-30k of cold hard cash to buy a car? You think someone will call the IRS on my ass lol!

They will say, are you sure you don't want to save that money and finance your car?  we have great rates. 

Mmmm; that would be nice of them

[ArchietheDragon]

Dec 31, 2014 12:26:26 GMT -5 TheHaitian said:

Dec 31, 2014 12:23:14 GMT -5 ArchietheDragon said:

They will say, are you sure you don't want to save that money and finance your car?  we have great rates. 

Mmmm; that would be nice of them

since most car dealers make more money selling the financing than the car, it would in their best interest. 

[Deleted]

I really shouldn't have put anything down on the accord. .9%, I should have financed it all.

[wvugurl26]

They'll fill out the required forms to report a large cash transaction and take your money. After pushing financing of course.

[Deleted]

I would never keep it as cash.  What if your house burned down or you were robbed?

[Cookies Galore]

Just auto transfer the money to a savings account. No need for all that cash at home. We have about $800 or so in petty cash at home.

[ArchietheDragon]

Dec 31, 2014 12:29:55 GMT -5 Cookies Galore said:

Just auto transfer the money to a savings account. No need for all that cash at home. We have about $800 or so in petty cash at home.

jeez... Mrs. money bags. 

[TheHaitian]

Dec 31, 2014 12:29:28 GMT -5 minnesotapaintlady said:

I would never keep it as cash.  What if your house burned down or you were robbed?

Valid concern that I have in the OP

[Cookies Galore]

Dec 31, 2014 12:30:18 GMT -5 ArchietheDragon said:

Dec 31, 2014 12:29:55 GMT -5 Cookies Galore said:

Just auto transfer the money to a savings account. No need for all that cash at home. We have about $800 or so in petty cash at home.

jeez... Mrs. money bags. 

Ha! It's really pure dumb luck that we have cash on hand.

[Deleted]

Plus, even though savings accounts pay peanuts you are giving up some return.  Our checking pays 2.5% up to 20K, so I would park money there long before the mattress. 

[wvugurl26]

Dec 31, 2014 12:32:18 GMT -5 CCL said:

Dec 31, 2014 12:23:05 GMT -5 oped said:

I'd just move it to savings. I don't like cash. 

A bank would have to report a 10k+ deposit. I'm not sure retailers have any such requirement.

I bought a camper once and that dealership told me they had to report it. Not sure if that was truthful or not.

This came up in my ethics class a couple weeks ago. Car dealerships, casinos, etc all have to report large cash transactions.

[CCL]

Looks like businesses do have to report.

Here you go:
www.irs.gov/Businesses/Small-Businesses-&-Self-Employed/Workbook-on-Reporting-Cash-Payments-of-Over-$10,000

[cael]

I would just put the cash in savings, and use my credit card (if I had the available credit for the amount or down payment) then just pay it right back. That's what I did for the down payment when I got my car 2 years ago.

[milee]

No idea why you'd want actual physical bills instead of just keeping it in an account and writing a check for the car.   Either way, a dealership will happily take the payment and just do the appropriate reporting.  www.irs.gov/Businesses/Small-Businesses-&-Self-Employed/FAQs-Regarding-Reporting-Cash-Payments-of-Over-10000-Form-8300

[Bonny]

I just wrote a check for $25,000 when I bought my car several years ago.

Other than running a credit check, it was no biggee. I sure as heck wouldn't keep that kind of cash lying around.

[phil5185]

we were planning (or I) to take out $50/$100 week and stash it for a new car downpayment;

Have that $2500/$5000/yr auto-deposited in your Taxable Vanguard fund. And when you need a car, buy with a zero downpayment (including tax & title). And leave the $15k or $25k that is in the fund in 3-4-5 yrs, double in 7 yrs (Rule of 72).
That will save you from the embarrassment of being an accused drug-runner and having to explain $30k in $100 bills to the cops - lol.

[milee]

FWIW, in our area, there are a lot of transactions done in cash or with a large check. Heck, more than 2/3 of the houses are bought with an all-"cash" (usually a cash equivalent like check or wire transfer, not physical bills) deal. So nobody gets too worked up about cash payments.  But in most cases, the cash payment is a cash equivalent - like a check - and the only people that come in with physical bills are immigrants and drug dealers. 

The business would still happily take your money, but for someone who's so interested in how they appear to others that they'd suffer through driving around in a noisy, repair prone, uncomfortable Jeep just to look cool, why would you want to use actual cash bills and appear like a drug dealer, illegal alien or person too ignorant to use a bank?

[swamp]

I have people come in and pay for real estate in cash. Usually Amish. I hate it. I prefer a certified bank check. But the Amish are generally unbanked, so I give them a pass. If you're not Amish, you can pay with a check.

[Deleted]

Dec 31, 2014 12:23:05 GMT -5 oped said:

I'd just move it to savings. I don't like cash. 

A bank would have to report a 10k+ deposit. I'm not sure retailers have any such requirement.

They do.  Retail is a popular way to launder money. 

When I worked for a Saks store, we had to report any cash payments on credit card bills as part of a DOJ settlement involving money laundering.  We had to call a number, enter the customer number, and the amount of payment.  People making $25 payments hated it!  They'd go, "Huh?"

[wvugurl26]

My friend lost out on a townhouse to a cash offer. I assume they paid by check. I doubt it would have passed an arm's length transaction sniff test by any bank. Realtor, guy selling and guy buying all had same last name and it wasn't Smith or Jones. I doubt it would have appraised at $235k anyway. It was a short sale at $150k in Jan 2014 and they were flipping it at $240k in August. It wasn't a total gut job either.

[yogiii]

I was actually surprised when I bought my car that they took a personal check, I thought they'd want a cashiers/bank check.

[quince]

If you need to have it not in your current accounts, open another bank account and set up an auto-transfer of funds to it. I'm not sure why you actually want actual cash building up in your home where it is at risk for fire or theft, especially with amounts in the 10K+ zone.

[kittensaver]

We buy all our cars with cash. We hate consumer debt. But we have virtually no cash hanging around our house. It's all in the bank (except for a small True Emergency stash - a major earthquake, zombie apocalypse, etc).

[busymom]

It's not that a dealership won't take cash. But, they're required to report it when it's over a specific amount.

I don't think C is a drug dealer,  but you may not want to leave them with that impression. I put a portion of my last car purchase on my credit card, so I could rack up some points.   But, the last time I checked, there IS a limit to how much you can put on your credit card when you purchase a car...

[wvugurl26]

My grandparents bought a brand new Cadillac sedan for grandma on a credit card. They forgot the checkbook at home. Paid it off when the statement came.

[Angel!]

Dec 31, 2014 13:43:08 GMT -5 wvugurl26 said:

My grandparents bought a brand new Cadillac sedan for grandma on a credit card. They forgot the checkbook at home. Paid it off when the statement came.

Does each dealership have their own rules? When I bought a car they would only let me put 2k on a cc.